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Mongolia

Pope Francis opens clinic on first papal visit to Mongolia

Pope Francis wrapped up the first-ever papal visit to Mongolia on Monday by inaugurating a church-run homeless clinic and shelter, insisting that such initiatives aren’t aimed at winning converts but are simply exercises in Christian charity.

04/09/2023

Italy

Message in the sky over Italy spread Vatican conspiracy theory

Messages transported by small planes over Italy’s beaches this summer have spread the debunked conspiracy theory that Pope Francis is not the legitimate head of the Catholic Church.

30/08/2023

Vatican

Pope causes fury after praising Russia's imperialist past

The Vatican stepped in to clarify the remarks after Pope Francis told young people they were the "heirs of the great Russia".

29/08/2023

Vatican

Pope says 'backward' US conservatives replaced faith with ideology

Pope Francis condemned the "very strong, organised, reactionary attitude" in the US church and said Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.

28/08/2023

Portugal

Pope Francis ends Portugal trip with message of hope for young people

Pope Francis ended a five-day trip to Portugal on Sunday with a massive open-air Mass for an estimated 1.5 million people who camped out overnight on a vast field to attend the grand finale of the World Youth Day festival.

06/08/2023

Portugal

'Lighting lamps of hope': Pope Francis urges Europe to seek peace

Francis is widely expected to meet in private with survivors of child abuse during his visit to Lisbon, as he has done on past foreign trips.

02/08/2023

Culture news

Portuguese street artist criticizes pope’s visit with banknote carpet

Alarmed by the official cost estimates of the papal visit, renowned Portuguese street artist Bordalo II has taken a stand by creating the pope's walk of shame...

01/08/2023

Portugal

World Youth Days kicks off in Lisbon as Pope plans for future

The Argentine is expected to use the event to solidify changes he believes are necessary for the 21st century church.

31/07/2023

Portugal

Pope faces Portugal reckoning next week over church child sex abuse

The pontiff is expected to meet victims of historic abuse as he visits Lisbon for an international Catholic youth rally.

28/07/2023

Culture news

Why Sinéad O’Connor’s protest on SNL still matters

As we remember a talented singer, it’s also fitting that we celebrate an outspoken artist who risked it all to remain steadfast in her beliefs.

27/07/2023

Design

Sagrada Familia struggles to accommodate both worship and tourism

With tourism surpassing pre-pandemic records in Barcelona and across southern Europe, iconic sacred sites are struggling to accommodate the faithful who come to pray and the millions of paying tourists.

21/07/2023

No Comment

Bachelors bang their drums: an unusual Easter tradition in Poland

The town of Iwaniska celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ with drums. A few minutes before midnight, during the vigil at the tomb of Jesus, the drum is brought into the local church and at midnight the drumming begins.

09/04/2023

Italy

Pope Francis washes feet in traditional Holy Thursday Easter ritual

Five days after his release from hospital, where he was admitted for bronchitis, Pope Francis went to a juvenile prison on Thursday to wash the feet of inmates in a traditional Easter ritual.

06/04/2023

Italy

Pope Francis defends the "marginalised" at Palm Sunday mass

Pope Francis has presided over Palm Sunday Mass, a day after leaving hospital due to bronchitis.

02/04/2023

Portugal

More than 4,800 cases of sexual abuse in Portugal's Catholic Church

An independent commission has reported that more than 4,800 children were abused within the Catholic Church in Portugal but warned that figure could be much higher.

14/02/2023

South Sudan

Pope makes final bid for peace in South Sudan

Some 100,000 people attended mass at the John Garang Mausoleum in Juba, South Sudan on the final day of the pontiff's visit to the war-ravaged country.

05/02/2023

No Comment

'Forgive one another' Pope tells South Sudanese on last day of trip

Pope Francis made a final appeal for peace in South Sudan on Sunday as he celebrated Mass before tens of thousands of people to close out an unusual mission by Christian religious leaders to nudge forward the country’s recovery from civil war.

05/02/2023

World News

Pope begins trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Pontiff's visit to the Congo and South Sudan aims to bring a message of peace to the two countries riven by poverty.

31/01/2023

Spain

Spanish police raid home of suspect in church machete attacks

The attacks on two churches by a single assailant on Wednesday night have shaken the city near the southern tip of Spain across from a bay from Gibraltar.

26/01/2023

Vatican

Benedict XVI buried in Vatican

Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI was laid to rest in a Vatican crypt after a service attended by 50,000 mourners.

05/01/2023